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Dopey (episode)
Dopey was third episode of the First Season. It was written by Margaret Armen. Summary Holly adopts and tries to domesticate a baby brontosaurus. Plot Rick Marshall has built a wheeled cart and the children are struggling to pull and push it along a sandy path through the jungle. Holly discovers an empty Dinosaur egg. They realize that the newly hatched dinosaur might still be nearby and might be hungry, and push the cart with renewed vigor. They discover a grove of giant strawberries and fill the cart with their discovery. As pteranodons fly overhead, they drag the cart back to the cave they muse on why there are dinosaurs here. Will Marshall says that their father believes they have fallen into another universe, and there are things "from all of time and space" here. Holly wonders if they might find her lost toys. Reacting to a sound behind them, the Marshall children turn and discover a baby brontosaurus. With their penchant for disagreeing over everything, Will and Holly argue over the gender of the baby, Holly referring to it with feminine pronouns and Will using masculine. Holly decides to feed it a berry, saying "she" looks friendly. Will says it looks "dopey." Holly retorts by conceding that the baby must be male, since anything that looked that dopey can only be a boy, and names him Dopey. As Holly holds a berry out for him, Dopey immediately rushes at her to take it. Intimidated by Dopey's sudden charge, Rick and Holly retreat. In pursuing them, Dopey gets stuck between two trees growing close together, and begins making loud, distressed trumpeting sounds, alerting all the nearby dinosaurs, including Grumpy, to his presence. Realizing they need to quiet him, Holly brings him a giant berry. This is merely a stopgap however, as the baby resumes crying out as soon as he finishes the berry. As Grumpy approaches, Holly asks Will to "think of something" to save the baby, but he replies "getting dinosaurs out of trees isn't something they teach you in boy scouts." Will and Holly try yelling at Dopey to scare him out of from between the trees. Finally, with Grumpy closing in, Will lunges at Dopey, screaming in exasperation, "Do you want to be dinosaur stew?" Dopey instinctively recoils from Will's sudden outburst, thereby freeing himself from between the two trees. Noticing Grumpy for the first time, Dopey turns to flee with Grumpy in close pursuit. Realizing there's nothing more they can do to protect Dopey, Will and Holly run. Will and Holly finally stop to rest, unable to run any further. Holly fears that Dopey has been eaten, while Will sadly tells her that it's just "the law of the jungle." They return to the cart of strawberries and continue pulling it towards the cave. Will notices that the cart is getting lighter and they turn to notice that Dopey has been silently following them, eating all the strawberries from the cart. Holly is delighted that Dopey escaped, but Will is irritated that Dopey has eaten all the berries. Back at the cave (which Will now calls the "High Bluff") their father is startled to find the children accompanied by the baby brontosaurus. Holly asks "can I keep him?" Rick starts to advise Holly against keeping an infant brontosaurus as a pet, but Will is quick to point out that, given Dopey's size, the Marshalls cannot force him to leave. Honoring her commitment to train Dopey, Holly tries to teach him to fetch a stick. However, Dopey only goes to the stick and eats it. Holly later rides the baby dinosaur like a horse. She also teaches Dopey to pull the cart by walking ahead of him and holding out food (leaves). Late that night, Holly is awakened early by Dopey's trumpeting. She takes her sleeping bag outside to keep him company, but this doesn't quiet him. Rick and Will are soon awakened by Dopey's mournful cries, which again attracts Grumpy. As Grumpy closes in and Dopey attempts to hide himself, the Marshalls have readied a flyswatter and are able to distract Grumpy from his purpose long enough to administer it. Grumpy reels away bellowing, again forced to dislodge a log from his mouth. Dopey has survived and emerges from the jungle. Rick explains that they can't keep Dopey near the cave. Holly agrees to take him to the swamp because Dopey "belongs with his own kind" and it isn't fair to expose him to constant danger. Over breakfast, eaten from giant gourd bowls, Rick reassures Holly that she will be able to visit Dopey any time she wants. "Cheer up, honey," Rick tells her, saying "Dopey will be much happier there." After teasing her, Will reminisces with Holly about the fresh-picked strawberries they used to put on homemade ice cream, back home. The Marshall family leads Dopey to Emily, a full-grown Brontosaurus, at the edge of the swamp. Holly tells Dopey that he must go. When Dopey appears reluctant to leave her, Holly resorts to yelling, "I don't want you any more!" to drive him off. As Dopey approaches, Emily raises her head and nuzzles the baby. Message * "If you love someone, let them free." Cast * Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall * Wesley Eure as Will Marshall * Kathy Coleman as Holly Marshall * Philip Paley as Cha-Ka * Sharon Bair as Sa * Joe A. Giamalva as Ta Dinosaurs * Emily * Grumpy * Spike * Spot * Pteranodons Trivia * This episode marks the first appearance of Dopey and Emily. * Dopey's high-pitched trumpeting (which nearly get him killed by Grumpy -- twice) is an artistic embellishment, as are all vocalizations from the dinosaurs in the series. The dinosaurs in earth's prehistoric past possessed no vocal cords and could not have vocalized anything. * Dopey was actually produced by two means: stop motion animation for the full-body scenes, while a puppet was used for closeups with just his head and neck. The puppet, which gave Dopey an innocuous look, actually bore little resemblance to the head and neck used in the animation model. * How Dopey managed to escape Grumpy is never revealed. Dopey's death seemed certain. The only plausible explanation is that Dopey found an access large enough to accommodate him, but too small to allow Grumpy to enter. This shelter would have to have been very close at hand, as Grumpy seemed to be mere steps from overtaking the cumbersome, plodding Dopey. * When Holly sees Dopey for the first time, she concludes that Dopey must have been what hatched out of the eggshell she discovered earlier. Brontosaurus eggs were only a foot long, and the eggshell she discovered was around three feet in diameter. But if Dopey did hatch from that egg, a considerable amount of time must have passed, since Dopey is far too large to have emerged from the egg. This would suggest that Dopey had been left on his own for quite some time. Category:Original TV Series Episode Category:Original TV Series Season 1 Category:Episodes